Daily Journal 2023
We are in Florida as we just celebrated our daughter Jacklyn getting married in December. We stayed until the end of February as we wanted to get together with Bill & Julie at Sertoma Youth Ranch instead of going to the TCT Rally. We were also staying at a few different RV parks in the area, and at one place we visited the Nature Coast Botanical Gardens, and then back in Apollo Beach we visited the Manatee Viewing Center hosted by the Tampa Electric Company.
We did a lot of traveling this year, heading north into Georgia and Ohio to visit with friends and family, and then into Indiana for more visiting. We stopped in central Georgia where we were able to visit the Museum of Aviation at Robins AFB. We also went to Andersonville National Historic Site and visited the POW Museum. Jim's parents are buried here and we also visited their gravesite.
Heading to northeast Georgia, we went over the border to a Thousand Trails in Fair Play, South Carolina. We visited the Currahee Military Museum. We also drove to Helen, Georgia because Jacklyn and Sean were up there with some of their friends met with Jack & Tam'ra and Jacklyn & Sean for lunch. From here we drove into North Carolina and were able to visit The Blowing Rock.
From here we headed west toward Maggie Valley to visit with our friend Andy Norris, who is a tour guide at the Wheels Through Time Museum. Our first visit was to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, then American Museum of the House Cat. I did not do a blog on Wheels Through Time during this visit as I have already done one previously, which you can access here.
Heading north again into Tennessee, we stayed at an Escapees RV Park where we were able to visit Baxter Gardens, a privately owned estate with massive gardens, and the K-25 History Center, where the two bombs were developed that were dropped on Japan during WWII. It's a very interesting place to visit. We also made a trip to The Lost Sea in Sweetwater. We have been wanting to visit this place for many years, having passed it on our north and south on I-75. This visit was not a pleasant one for Jim, however, as his retinal detachment causes him to see double, and his depth perception is off balance; he sweated in a 50 degree setting and clung to me throughout the whole tour.
We headed north into Ohio to visit with Jim's cousin and then further north into Ohio to visit with my niece, Jim's cousin, my Dad's girlfriend, and did some sightseeing as well. The first thing we went to see was the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, then Chateau Laroche in Loveland. We also visited Cuyahoga Valley National Park before heading to Indiana.
Before stopping in Indiana to visit some old friends, we made a side trip to Dearborn outside of Detroit to visit the Henry Ford Museum. There is more than one part to the museum but we only stayed long enough to see the main museum.
We spent some time in Michigan at some of the Outdoor Adventures resorts before heading into Michigan UP. We stopped at a Thousand Trails park and then an OA park in Kalamazoo. We visited the RV/MH Hall of Fame again, as well as the South Bend Chocolate Company.
We went up the western side of Michigan and stopped at a few RV parks to see some of the sights in the area. These included the Windmill Island Gardens in Holland, the SS City of Milwaukee in Manistee, the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum in Ludington, the Point Betsie Lighthouse, the Michigan Legacy Art Park, and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
We drove to east Michigan to Gaylord where we stayed at another OA RV Park. While in Gaylord, we visited the Call of the Wild Museum. Instead of making individual blog posts, I made one called Sights to see in Michigan, which tells about some of the smaller places we visited.
Crossing over the Mackinac Bridge to the Michigan UP, we stayed at an RV Park right on Lake Huron. It was expensive, but they had a nice trail through the woods and then we were able to walk the beach of Lake Huron. While here we visited the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Mackinac Island, and Museum of the Ojibawa.
Now we started on our trek west through Michigan, and stopped at an RV park where were were able to visit more sights in the area. It was also coming up on Jim's birthday, and I booked us a boat ride to view the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. In the meantime, we were able to visit Tahquamenon Falls State Park and Tahquamenon Logging Museum.
From there we went to Wisconsin and made a trip into Oshkosh to visit the Experimental Aviation Museum.
We stopped in Minnesota to visit with Jim's cousin. We ended up spending more time in Minnesota than we had planned because our Excursion's engine decided it time to give up the ghost. We stayed in Minnesota for an extra two weeks over Labor Day weekend to have Christian Brothers put a new engine into the Excursion. Leaving Minnesota, we went south, stopping in Des Moines to visit an old friend who we met when we worked at Amazon in 2012. We also visited the Iowa Gold Star Military Museum.
Traveling south into Kansas, we stayed in Franklin for a few days and visited the Miners Hall Museum.
Back at Tres Rios we were able to get all of our doctor appointments, dentist, eye, etc. done. I had cataract surgery to get rid of the cataracts in both of my eyes. We hung around Glen Rose and Whitney for the rest of the year.
November did take us to Houston to visit with Josh & family, then back to Tres for the rest of the year. We attended the New Year's Eve party at Tres this year.
You can read about our travel adventures for the end of 2022 and all of 2023 in my blog post Our Travels During 2022 and 2023.
We are in Florida as we just celebrated our daughter Jacklyn getting married in December. We stayed until the end of February as we wanted to get together with Bill & Julie at Sertoma Youth Ranch instead of going to the TCT Rally. We were also staying at a few different RV parks in the area, and at one place we visited the Nature Coast Botanical Gardens, and then back in Apollo Beach we visited the Manatee Viewing Center hosted by the Tampa Electric Company.
We did a lot of traveling this year, heading north into Georgia and Ohio to visit with friends and family, and then into Indiana for more visiting. We stopped in central Georgia where we were able to visit the Museum of Aviation at Robins AFB. We also went to Andersonville National Historic Site and visited the POW Museum. Jim's parents are buried here and we also visited their gravesite.
Heading to northeast Georgia, we went over the border to a Thousand Trails in Fair Play, South Carolina. We visited the Currahee Military Museum. We also drove to Helen, Georgia because Jacklyn and Sean were up there with some of their friends met with Jack & Tam'ra and Jacklyn & Sean for lunch. From here we drove into North Carolina and were able to visit The Blowing Rock.
From here we headed west toward Maggie Valley to visit with our friend Andy Norris, who is a tour guide at the Wheels Through Time Museum. Our first visit was to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, then American Museum of the House Cat. I did not do a blog on Wheels Through Time during this visit as I have already done one previously, which you can access here.
Heading north again into Tennessee, we stayed at an Escapees RV Park where we were able to visit Baxter Gardens, a privately owned estate with massive gardens, and the K-25 History Center, where the two bombs were developed that were dropped on Japan during WWII. It's a very interesting place to visit. We also made a trip to The Lost Sea in Sweetwater. We have been wanting to visit this place for many years, having passed it on our north and south on I-75. This visit was not a pleasant one for Jim, however, as his retinal detachment causes him to see double, and his depth perception is off balance; he sweated in a 50 degree setting and clung to me throughout the whole tour.
We headed north into Ohio to visit with Jim's cousin and then further north into Ohio to visit with my niece, Jim's cousin, my Dad's girlfriend, and did some sightseeing as well. The first thing we went to see was the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, then Chateau Laroche in Loveland. We also visited Cuyahoga Valley National Park before heading to Indiana.
Before stopping in Indiana to visit some old friends, we made a side trip to Dearborn outside of Detroit to visit the Henry Ford Museum. There is more than one part to the museum but we only stayed long enough to see the main museum.
We spent some time in Michigan at some of the Outdoor Adventures resorts before heading into Michigan UP. We stopped at a Thousand Trails park and then an OA park in Kalamazoo. We visited the RV/MH Hall of Fame again, as well as the South Bend Chocolate Company.
We went up the western side of Michigan and stopped at a few RV parks to see some of the sights in the area. These included the Windmill Island Gardens in Holland, the SS City of Milwaukee in Manistee, the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum in Ludington, the Point Betsie Lighthouse, the Michigan Legacy Art Park, and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
We drove to east Michigan to Gaylord where we stayed at another OA RV Park. While in Gaylord, we visited the Call of the Wild Museum. Instead of making individual blog posts, I made one called Sights to see in Michigan, which tells about some of the smaller places we visited.
Crossing over the Mackinac Bridge to the Michigan UP, we stayed at an RV Park right on Lake Huron. It was expensive, but they had a nice trail through the woods and then we were able to walk the beach of Lake Huron. While here we visited the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Mackinac Island, and Museum of the Ojibawa.
Now we started on our trek west through Michigan, and stopped at an RV park where were were able to visit more sights in the area. It was also coming up on Jim's birthday, and I booked us a boat ride to view the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. In the meantime, we were able to visit Tahquamenon Falls State Park and Tahquamenon Logging Museum.
From there we went to Wisconsin and made a trip into Oshkosh to visit the Experimental Aviation Museum.
We stopped in Minnesota to visit with Jim's cousin. We ended up spending more time in Minnesota than we had planned because our Excursion's engine decided it time to give up the ghost. We stayed in Minnesota for an extra two weeks over Labor Day weekend to have Christian Brothers put a new engine into the Excursion. Leaving Minnesota, we went south, stopping in Des Moines to visit an old friend who we met when we worked at Amazon in 2012. We also visited the Iowa Gold Star Military Museum.
Traveling south into Kansas, we stayed in Franklin for a few days and visited the Miners Hall Museum.
Back at Tres Rios we were able to get all of our doctor appointments, dentist, eye, etc. done. I had cataract surgery to get rid of the cataracts in both of my eyes. We hung around Glen Rose and Whitney for the rest of the year.
November did take us to Houston to visit with Josh & family, then back to Tres for the rest of the year. We attended the New Year's Eve party at Tres this year.
You can read about our travel adventures for the end of 2022 and all of 2023 in my blog post Our Travels During 2022 and 2023.